THought of the Day

February 6, 2009

A WISE MAN WATCHES HIS FAULTS MORE CLOSELY THAN HIS VIRTUES; FOOLS REVERSE THE ORDER.

We all have within us the potential for greatness or for failure. Both possibilities are an innate part of our character. Whether we reach for the stars or plunge to the depths of despair depends in large measure on how we manage our positive and negative potential. It is doubtful that, if left unchecked, your virtues will rage out of control. Unfortunately, the reverse is not true about your faults. Left unattended, faults have a way of multiplying until they eventually choke out your good qualities. The surest way to control your faults is to attack them the moment they appear.

This positive message is brought to you by the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Visit us at http://www.naphill.org. We encourage you to forward this to friends and family. They can sign up for this free service at our web site. 

Integrity Part 2

Yesterday we started talking about integrity. We addressed the issue of integrity in our homes and with our families. Today we will address the spillover of our home lives to the marketplace.

I believe that Integrity is paramont in the marketplace today. Just as we discussed yesterday with the climate of todays business world our clients are looking for advisors that have everyones best interest in mind. I had a friend ask me one time how would I answer if a client ask me how much I earned from selling the life policy. I told my friend that I tell them to the penny what I earned on the sale. He was taken back by my response. I told him if I am truly doing what is best for my client then it makes no difference what I make because it is a win win situation. The client is taken care of and so am I. I will have to admit I had a client question me about why my commission was so much. I simply ask him if he thought his life was important. Of course he said yes. I told him that the life company thought that it was important too and that is why they compensate me the way they to do...Because everyone involved knows how important my job is and how important it is to do it right. The other thing is that it keeps agents from rushing off to make the next sale so we can earn a living. It allows us to give each client the attention they deserve. I know that was a long and drawn out answer but my point is when you are doing things the right way you should have nothing to hide.

Simplly put when we are boing business in a way that it a win win then we have nothing to hide. If you feel guilty or feel like you are making an unfair commission then YOU NEED A CHECK UP FROM THE NECK UP!!! You either believe in the value of your product or service or you dont!

Thought of the Day

February 5, 2009

SELF-PITY IS AN OPIATE.

The most insidious problem with drugs is that the human body develops a tolerance for them and requires larger and larger doses to achieve the same effect. The same is true with self-pity. The more you allow yourself to indulge in it, the more you will require.Soon, self-pity will become a habit, one so debilitating that you will rob yourself of all the potential you possess. Happily, there is a cure. If you truly analyze the situation, most often you will find that the problems that have driven you to pity yourself are mostly of your own creation. It follows, then, that the best person to remedy the problem is the person who created it: you yourself.

This positive message is brought to you by the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Visit us at http://www.naphill.org. We encourage you to forward this to friends and family. They can sign up for this free service at our web site. 

Integrity

So what is this thing called integrity? I have always been taught that is Integrity is who you are and what you are doing when no one is looking. I have been thinking about the subject over the last couple of days. Being in business for yourself brings this reality of the neccesity of Intergrity to the service like a drowning person coming up through the sufrace gasping for are....Intergrity must be the air that we are gasping and striving for.....Why you ask??? Well, take a look around at the banking crisis (AKA Stupid Decisions Made) other top business collapses that have been pointed back at CEOs making big bonuses but running failing businesses.

I think we have to have Integrity in two places:

1) With our family.

I think it all starts here. I belive this because if you dont have integrity at home then you will not have it anywhere else. The relationships we build with our family will forshadow the relationships that we build in the business world. Think about it....When you tell your spouse the time that you will be home or that you pick up this or that on the way home; do you do it?? Or do you just pass it off as oh well I had to work. The appointments that we make at home must be the first ones that we keep. We also have to think how those missed appointments and how affects our family. We think as business people that we are showing our commitment to our family by the long hours, missed dinners, missed ballgames and missed recitals but in all reality it makes our family question our comittment to them. Intergrity is really just boils down to doing what you say your going to do....

I will talk about the other side of Integrity tomorrow..... 

Check out what I am currently reading:

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth

Tought of the Day

February 4, 2009

REMEMBER THAT THE FAULTS OF HUMANKIND ARE PRETTY EVENLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG ALL OF US.

Why can we so easily overlook in ourselves the faults we are quick to spot in others? It is easy to be objective when it comes to criticizing our friends, family members, and business associates, but it is far more difficult to be honest about our own shortcomings. Only when we recognize that we are all human, with the same faults and failings, do we begin to develop that wonderful quality of tolerance that enables us to accept others as they are and ask nothing in return. Replacing faultfinding with "goodfinding" is never easy. But when you become one who always compliments instead of criticizes, you become the kind of friend we would all like to have.

This positive message is brought to you by the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Visit us at http://www.naphill.org. We encourage you to forward this to friends and family. They can sign up for this free service at our web site. If you would like to stop receiving these thoughts, please go to http://www.naphill.org/thought-unsubscribe.asp

"Thought of the Day"

February 3, 2009

HUMAN FAULTS ARE LIKE GARDEN WEEDS. THEY GROW WITHOUT CULTIVATION AND SOON TAKE OVER THE PLACE IF THEY AREN’T THINNED OUT.

Habits are formed so slowly that most of us don’t realize what is happening until the habits are too strongly entrenched to be broken. Seldom can one pattern of behavior be eliminated without replacing it with another. It has been said that nature abhors a vacuum and will always find something to fill a void. The best way to thin out the "weeds," or faults in your character, is to identify those traits with which you are dissatisfied and replace them with their positive counterparts. If you have a tendency to lose your temper, for example, find a replacement for your anger. Neutralize it with a positive expression or affirmation such as, No one can make me angry unless I let them. I will not let anyone else control my emotions.

This positive message is brought to you by the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Visit us at http://www.naphill.org. We encourage you to forward this to friends and family. They can sign up for this free service at our web site. If you would like to stop receiving these thoughts, please go to http://www.naphill.org/thought-unsubscribe.asp

Here We Go

I was talking to my wife this morning about creating this blog. I told her that I hope that somebody might read this and find it helpful. So that is the challenging part (to be helpful). I also told her that I hope that people will comment with there ideas and resources as well. I believe that the best thing for any small business owner to do is to belong to a support group!! We all need encouragement and education.

I thought that everyday I will share the "Thought of the Day" email that I get from the Napoleon Hill Website. You can subscribe to this for free but I thought I would add it so if you come back to the site everyday there would be at least one useful thing. I will also talk about what I do on a day to day basis, some book reviews marketing ideas and any other things that I think of...

So you may ask what I do. Well, I am an insurance broker. I focus on life insurance and worksite benefits. Please note, this blog will not focus directly on these products but more on sales and marketing....